Monday, December 13, 2010

A Good Article For Any Design Student To Read.

Design students read this.  I found this a very informative read.  It is an article about the state of design education in America right now.  Coming from an education in Fine Art I understand where the author is coming from.  I have a BFA in painting & drawing and one in sculpture & drawing.  The Bachelor of Fine Arts I have had no distinct career to direct the students into.  It's Art.  A career in art has a need for talent, entrepreneurial savvy, business, networking skill, and knowing how to market yourself really well.  The only thing taught in Art School is how to paint, how to draw, and how to sculpt things (with a few exceptions).  Thus the courses were based on the "how to" curriculum.  Only a couple courses were about the business of being a professional artist.  No where near what is really needed to actually make a living as an artist.  I see a little of this the design program that I'm currently enrolled in.

As soon as I read this piece a bell started ringing in my head.  I have seen (even applied to) schools that accept ANY majors into a MA of Industrial Design with a portfolio and a BA.  These programs fill up fast. And of coarse they do.  I'm sure that these schools want to produce excellent designers but what's most important to them is making money (they have to balance their budget just like everyone else).

I have just started a new school as an Industrial Design student.  With my past experience I have a since of what I'm getting myself into.  I see the pros and cons of the program i'm in.  The pros are important but I think it is the cons in the program that I need to focus on in order to compensate for myself and make it as a designer.  I am old enough to have some real world experience and therefore know that the school part of this is easy (this is something I didn't know this the fist time around) it's making a living at what I love that is going to be the hard part.

All in all I think that I will get as much as I put into the design program I'm in.  I see a lot of the students that are in the mindset of entitlement.  I get it, I was them once.  They're young, I was young and had no idea of what kind of challenges life has to offer.  Yeah, it took me awhile but I know what I want now and i'm going to work hard for it and I think my schooling is going to be an integral part of me making it.

So after reading the article and my bog post try and hop on over to the Core 77 forum and see what everyone else has to say.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Problem: episode 1, part 15 (Figuring Out The Desk Top- AKA: Model Making)


Before I get started on the joys of the models I wanted to show how the White Oak looks after I had put some oil on it.  On the right is the fumed oak and the left is what the whole thing is going to look like after one coat of linseed oil.  It turned out a lot darker than I expected.  At first I was worried that I wouldn't like it but it has started to grow on me.  The color is unexpectedly rich which is nice. Give me a few more weeks and I'm sure I'll think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

As for this model I am going to try and see what a square top (first was all curvy and stuff) with an cabinet type thing on top of that opens but still fits all of my technology inside when it closes.  I'm asking miracles with this one I know.  Just laying this thing out has taken me forever.  My first try started out nice but after I figured out it would take up an entire wall (the big one) in our living room I gave it another shot.  And about halve a dozen shots later this is what I have came up with.  It all started with that awesome desk I saw at the vintage furniture store. 


Started with the desk top.  Making it big enough to fit a couple of drawers and cable storage and some other nooks and crannies for putting odds and ends.


Here is the top piece.  Making it open to no bigger than the desk top was still the hard part.

The goal is to fit everything inside. . . of this closed box.

But make use of the entire desk top when it's open.

My solution is to have the monitor on an extendable arm and my laptop on a tray that can slide back and forth under the monitor.

Then I added some shelves for the printer and other things.

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